Tuesday, May 19, 2009

... Abbas Saleem Khan, a social activist from Islamabad, is coordinating efforts among concerned citizens through a Facebook group called the Citizens Trust for Victims of Terror. Fauzia and Ghazala Minallah are spearheading efforts to support schools in Gujjar Garhi, Mardan. Natasha Javed and her friends are selling t-shirts with slogans supporting the people of Swat to raise money for them. Hadia Khan and Awab Alvi are collecting donations in Karachi. Farhaan and Aiza Rao are collecting donations in Lahore. On the web, blogs like Pakistaniat, Five Rupees, Changing Up Pakistan, Chowrangi, and Pakistan Policy make the case and raise the money around the clock...

...Ummah Foundation is at the forefront of efforts to make sure that people have enough to eat at Jalala Camp and beyond. Heavy metal outfit Qayaas, led by guitarist Khurram Waqar, has visited Mardan and contributed to efforts on several fronts. Al-Khidmat Foundation is delivering food and medical assistance to several thousand affectees. Aman Tehreek, lead by a group of students, academics, and professionals, in the US and the UK has established a website to coordinate efforts and raise funds. UM Healthcare Trust and the Disaster Management Centre have collaborated to provide medical camps at Rustum in Mardan. The Islamabad Jeep Club has raised more than two hundred thousand rupees worth of assistance.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

All of you who generously contributed for the displaced brothers and sisters from Swat, Buner and other areas where the operation is going on, will be pleased to know that their gifts have been distributed in four schools in Jalala Mardan. The local MPA and the Peshawar office of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan suggested we focus our attention on those IDPs who are still deprived of any kind of assistance, especially thosewho are residing in rented houses, with their relatives and schools because the offical data collected from the office of the Mardan commissioner, Muhammad Khalid Khan, shows that out of the total 315,000 IDPs in Mardan only 56,000 could be accommodated in the camps. So the larger portion of the displaced persons is not in camps and that too with no attention of the media, civil society organisations and government authorities.

We distributed stuff in four schools and will continue doing so as long as you all are donating so generously.The Jalala camp in Mardan is full and no more IDPs are registered. The over spill of the IDPs have been accomodated in different schools where we dilevered your gifts. Please below find the PHOTO STORY of how the goods were delivered. Keep up the good work !! Please do not stop!!!! There are many more IDPs to help. This is a small drop in the ocean but it can turn into an ocean by strenthenting the hands of credible institutions such as Edhi Foundation.

There have been clashes in neighbouring areas of Swat in Buner and Lower Dir districts of Swat, where the son of a prominent cleric was killed in due to shelling and heavy fighting. Thousands of terrified residents are fleeing crammed onto trucks, even on foot, with only the possessions they can carry. As Pakistani aircraft bombard Taliban positions in the area, officials fear up to half a million refugees could join the exodus. The fighting now stretches across a 50-mile area of north west Pakistan, less than 100 miles from the capital Islamabad.

... Abbas Saleem Khan, a social activist from Islamabad, is coordinating efforts among concerned citizens through a Facebook group called the Citizens Trust for Victims of Terror. Fauzia and Ghazala Minallah are spearheading efforts to support schools in Gujjar Garhi, Mardan.Natasha Javed and her friends are selling t-shirts with slogans supporting the people of Swat to raise money for them. Hadia Khan and Awab Alvi are collecting donations in Karachi. Farhaan and Aiza Rao are collecting donations in Lahore. On the web, blogs like Pakistaniat, Five Rupees, Changing Up Pakistan, Chowrangi, and Pakistan Policy make the case and raise the money around the clock...

...Ummah Foundation is at the forefront of efforts to make sure that people have enough to eat at Jalala Camp and beyond. Heavy metal outfit Qayaas, led by guitarist Khurram Waqar, has visited Mardan and contributed to efforts on several fronts. Al-Khidmat Foundation is delivering food and medical assistance to several thousand affectees. Aman Tehreek, lead by a group of students, academics, and professionals, in the US and the UK has established a website to coordinate efforts and raise funds.UM Healthcare Trust and the Disaster Management Centre have collaborated to provide medical camps at Rustum in Mardan. The Islamabad Jeep Club has raised more than two hundred thousand rupees worth of assistance.

Who We Are

Aman-Tehreek (Movement of Peace) is a group of concerned students, activists, lawyers, academics and individuals from across the world working to collect funds for the growing number of Internally Displaced Persons of Swat valley in Pakistan. There will be a massive need for food, shelter, clothing and clean drinking water services for the survival of these internally displaced persons.

We are working with the following organizations who are present on the ground to meet the needs of the IDPs:

1. Civil Society Islamabad (CSI): A group of civil society and activists in Islamabad who are looking after refugee IDPs into Islamabad where there are no camps and service-provision. They are working alongside Concerned Citizens of Pakistan (CCP).